"Deserving"

On March 20, 2025, a North Carolina man named Michael Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after executing an industrial-scale scheme involving artificial intelligence. Smith utilized AI to generate thousands of songs and subsequently used automated bots to stream this content billions of times, effectively siphoning millions of dollars in royalties away from legitimate artists and rights holders.

What happened

Between 2017 and 2024, Smith engaged in a massive fraudulent operation that involved creating synthetic music and flooding streaming platforms with the tracks. By amassing more than 660,000 streams daily, Smith successfully diverted over $10 million in royalties. Federal authorities noted that while the songs and the listeners were fake, the financial impact on the music industry was significant, as the diverted funds were intended for real musicians and songwriters. Following his guilty plea, Smith faces a maximum of five years in prison and is subject to a forfeiture of over $8 million. Prosecutors highlighted that Smith’s case serves as a rare example of successful federal enforcement against AI-assisted fraud in the music industry, noting that many similar actors remain difficult to prosecute due to resource constraints and jurisdictional challenges.